Whether you’re into baking, cleaning or beauty hacks, TikTok is the place to be.
Many influencers have moved over from other social media platforms, like Instagram, to the most popular video app right now.
Whether you have 100 or 100 000 followers, just one great video can make you go viral.
Beauty and make-up tips and tricks are especially popular.
It just takes one person doing something supposedly clever or outrageous for it to become a viral trend.
This is especially true for beauty trends.
However, not everything you see on TikTok is good for you and your skin, and if you don’t educate yourself before trying some of the crazy trends out there, you could cause your skin more harm than good.
Medical trainer Karen Bester at Lamelle Research Laboratories shares her professional opinion on whether or not the current viral TikTok skincare trends are good for you or not.
Slugging
Slugging involves coating your skin with an occlusive like petroleum jelly before going to bed. The concept is that the occlusive will act as a barrier and seal in moisture, resulting in soft and moisturised skin the next morning.
“Here I believe that balance is very important. We know that occluding the skin will trap water which will in turn help the enzymes in the skin to exfoliate any dry cells that need removing. If we, however, trap too much water, this can lead to maceration which is never a good thing.
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So slug along when your skin is feeling dry in general or after having a treatment when your skin needs to heal.
Occlusion is not required every night though; your skin should have the ability to trap enough water if the lipid bi-layer is intact. Long-term use of occlusive products can be comedogenic – i.e. cause breakouts,” advises Bester.
Face taping
Face taping involves applying tape to areas of the face where wrinkles might form in an attempt to “straighten” the skin and give it a more youthful appearance for longer.
Bester says: “I have not personally tried face taping, but I think it is a fabulous cosmetic tool to have droopy skin look younger – Joan Collins cannot be wrong!
Unless you are ripping off the top layer of the skin – the corneum. That is not a good thing and can cause semi-permanent damage to the skin.”
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Saltwater cleansing
Users use salt water to cleanse their skin twice a day before applying their skincare products. The practice is recommended to enhance the skin’s radiance as well as to treat and prevent breakouts.
“There is very little data on the use of salt water in skincare. In ancient (pre-2000) medicine we used salt water to rinse wounds and mouths to lower bacterial load and assist in healing. I do not believe that saltwater cleansing will have any negative effects on the skin.
The only challenge might be if the salt content in the water is extremely high. In this case, the salt can draw water out of the skin and have a drying rather than a hydrating effect on the skin.
With regards to toxins and oils being drawn out of the skin, it does not make sense at all. In fact, if you are using so much salt you will probably find that it dehydrates your skin. This is never a good thing” advises Bester.
Pore vacuums
A pore vacuum is a device that uses suction to remove oil and dirt from the pores in an attempt to deep clean the skin. These devices are readily available online, sometimes for as little as R120.
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Bester says: “I wish that these did work – we could then just go for relaxing facials and not need to have deep-cleanse facials with extractions.
Unfortunately, these tools can be quite damaging and cause painful bruising, especially when the skin is not prepared well or with larger, more stubborn congested areas.
You would need to cleanse and moisturise the skin – maybe use an enzymatic exfoliator just to loosen the congested areas.”
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